1. Improving Your Technical Writing Skills
R. E. Abdel-Aal
COE Department

2. Some Facts, Quotations
Clear writing is an indication of clear thinking!
“In today’s workplace, writing is a ‘threshold skill’ for hiring and promotion among professional employees”
Report, US National Commission on Writing, Sept 2004
How do fresh US engineers
spend their time at work1?
Other
Work
Writing
36%
32%
1 Pneena Sageev and Carol J. Romanowski
A Message from Recent Engineering Graduates in
the Workplace: Results of a Survey on
Technical Communication Skills,
Journal of Engineering Education, 1 October 2001, pp
10%
22%
Other Oral
Discussions
Oral
Presentations

3. Contents Motivation (Why?) What makes good technical writing?
What are the main writing skills required?
The writing task and process
Typical Structure for Paper/Report
Tips for good writing style
How to improve your writing?
Conclusions
References

4. Motivation
Writing clearly and effectively is essential to an engineer:
Engineers need to communicate results of their work in writing to peers, bosses, and decision makers: Reports, Proposals, Quotations, Request for Quotations, Research Papers, etc.
Lives are often affected not only by the accuracy of an engineer’s work, but also by clear and convincing presentation of his conclusions and recommendations
If you are a decision maker, how would you take spelling/grammar errors in an important engineering report?

5. What makes good technical writing?
Formal, Direct
Modular, Structured
Focused, Objective
Simple, Coherent
Uses correct theories
& terminology
Concise: No padding or redundancy
Consistent
Clarity and Flow
Relevant to the defense of a viewpoint
Shows insight & critical thinking
Aware of audience
 Original
Contributes to the body of knowledge

6. What are the main writing skills?
Develop Convincing, Persuasive Arguments
High-Level
Synthesize Findings
Effective Data Presentation
Organization
Style
Referencing
Low-Level
Grammar
Punctuation
Spelling

7. The writing task Wish list: To achieve this, the task must be:
 Productive- Minimum frustration!
 Timely
 Leads to a final product to be proud of
To achieve this, the task must be:
 Focused and Organized
 Started early, as many revisions are needed
 Adopt a ‘Writing Process’

8. The Writing Process Define the topic - clear focus
Collect the data, perform the experiments, etc.
Organize the document: The outline
Write first Draft - writing, writing and writing again ...
Revise: Focusing on higher-order concerns
Proofread: Focusing on lower-order concerns

9. Typical Structure for Report/Paper
Title: Not too short, Not too long
Abstract:  300 words
Write this at the end
Scope, Motivation, Achievements, Key results, Conclusions
Introduction
One paragraph for each of the following:
Background / history
Motivation
Your contributions
Organization of the document

10. Typical Structure for Report/Paper, Contd.
Background, Theory, Literature Review
Describe background necessary to understand the rest of the document
Previous Related Work
Cite and briefly discuss other related work
Mention how it differs from your work
Mention their limitations, but be polite
Your Approach, Experimental Procedures
Describe your approach
Describe any experimental setup and metrics used to evaluate your solution against previous work

11. Typical Structure for Report/Paper, Contd.
Results and Discussion
Use graphs and tables to present your results
Refer the graphs / tables in the text…
Describe and discuss your work and ideas, do not just state them
Conclusions/Recommendations
Main conclusions and recommendations derived
Suggestions for possible future work
Acknowledgements
References

12. Some tips for good writing style - Going beyond spelling and grammar
Write clearly, explicitly, and concisely Long sentences, ‘delayers’ and ‘distracters’ frustrate readers
Use formal language: e.g. no contractions (couldn't, hasn’t etc.)
Write to get yourself understood: written words need to be chosen more carefully than spoken words
Cut the fat, even one word counts!
Avoid exaggerations and unnecessary qualifiers: (very, basically, actually..)
Avoid clichés: “last but not least?”
Avoid overusing prepositional phrases: the, in, over, of, for, at..
Ensure clarity: “who did what to whom?” Use active voice

13. How to improve your writing?
Realize the importance of good writing
Read a lot! and pay attention to others’ writing style
Read critically what you have written before submission
Get others to read what you have written: Feedback, Quality Assurance
Practice good writing in all that you write: s, letters, etc.
Know your target audience: What they know already, what they expect to know from your document
Know your objective: document?, inform?, persuade?....
Utilize the plenty of information and help available on the Web
(Check the ABET page on the COE Website)

14. Conclusions
Writing skills are important for a successful career in engineering
Several criterion for good technical writing: Simplicity and clarity
Writing skills span several levels: from spelling to argumentation
Need to employ a writing process and allow adequate time
Typical structures for papers and reports
Guidelines for writing in style
Strategy for improvement
Get convinced and committed and start practicing
There is plenty of helpful resources around

15. References The ABET Accreditation page on the COE Website: